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command at Tarsus in Asia Minor, and plans a campaign against Parthia
on the eastern frontier, but Rufio informs him they need supplies from
Egypt, money and food for the legions. Antony, refusing to grovel to
Cleopatra, sends Rufio to summon her, but she rebuffs him, saying she
will only meet Antony on Egyptian soil. When Cleopatra arrives in Tarsus
on a magnificent gilded barge with purple sails, Antony thinks she is
giving in to him. But Cleopatra informs his officers she will entertain
Antony only on her ship, on “Egyptian soil.” She invites him to a lavish
banquet where they engage in a refined battle of wills. Antony becomes
jealous when he sees Cleopatra wearing a necklace of gold coins struck
with the image of Caesar. While the party rages, Cleopatra retires to her
stateroom, followed by a drunken Antony, who rips the veil surrounding
her bed. The two become lovers and the next day he returns to Alexandria
with her, abandoning all thoughts of Rome. In his absence, Octavian smears
him in the Senate, saying Antony is giving away the empire under the
influence of the Egyptian queen. Octavian has claimed the name and legacy
of Caesar for himself and threatens the supporters of Antony. When this
news is reported to Cleopatra, she confronts Antony and urges him to
secure his rights back in Rome. Although Antony is reluctant to leave her
and Egypt, after a passionate farewell, he sets out to resolve matters with
Octavian. They meet at Brundisium, where Octavian proposes a plan to
cement their new alliance: he offers Antony his sister Octavia in marriage,
and Antony accepts.
Cleopatra is enraged when she hears of the marriage. Meanwhile, Antony
is in Athens with Octavia, bored and longing to return to Alexandria to
renew their bond. But Cleopatra rejects the envoys Antony sends. When
he finally comes in person, she makes him wait before granting him an
audience. She humbles him, forcing him to kneel to her in public. Cleopatra
states her conditions for a new treaty with Egypt: she demands that
he cede a third of the Roman Empire to Egypt as the price of her alliance.
Antony refuses, and she taunts him as subservient to Octavian. In private,
they argue passionately about Octavian’s strategy to make Antony unpopular
at Rome. Cleopatra demands he divorce Octavia and marry her
according to the Egyptian religion, then cede her the eastern territories to
assert his power. She wants to fight Octavian and Antony gives in out of
love for her. Sosigenes asks to be sent to Rome to sue for peace one last
time.
In Rome, Octavian provokes a public outcry against Antony by casting
the divorce of his sister as Antony’s rejection of Rome. The Senate is
reluctant to fight a war against Antony, so Octavian brashly reads Antony’s
126 CLEOPATRA (1963)